How would you grade Barack Obama’s governance of US science during his first presidential term?

By James Dacey

As Barack Obama clears out the champagne bottles and faces the political and economic realities of another four years in the White House, the time is ripe to reflect on his first term in office. I think it is fair to say that there has not exactly been a lot of money sloshing around over the past few years, and the current election campaigning focused strongly on how the presidential candidates plan to fix the economy. But, considering the economic context of the past four years, we want you to consider how well you think Obama has handled science: its funding, its priorities and whether his general approach has been informed by science. Please let us know what you think via this week’s Facebook poll.

How would you grade Barack Obama’s governance of US science during his first presidential term?

A – Awesome
B – Brave effort given the economic constraints
C – Could have done better
D – Dreadful

To cast your vote please visit our Facebook page, and please feel free to post a comment to explain your decision.

Last week’s poll also had a political theme. We asked you to select from a list of scientist-turned-politicians the one that you believe has been the best political leader. The most popular choice was Angela Merkel, the current Chancellor of Germany, who has a background in physical chemistry. The least popular on our list was the former Greek prime minister Lucas Papademos, who gained a Bachelor’s degree in physics before holding office for little more than six months between 2011 and 2012.

Thank you for taking part and we hope to hear from you again this week.